Apocalypse Now: Redux (18)

IN THIS time of humanitarian conflict, in the direct aftermath
of the Western worlds greatest loss of life in recent times, could Francis
Ford Coppola have hoped to unleash such potent anti-war rhetoric and something
finally so devastating as this, his Year 2000 rendering of the 1979 near masterpiece
Apocalypse Now?

One thing is certain: Redux has lost none of the power of its (two) original(s).
But the question does still remain: Has the new version actually gained from
the modern day tinkering of its auteur and his editor?

The now-familiar tale of the spaced out American captain sent in to the heart
of a hostile jungle mid-Vietnam to hunt and assassinate with extreme prejudice
a renegade colonel who is waging an unlicensed and bloody campaign in Cambodia,
drew from Joseph Conrads Hearts of Darkness for its story and macabre
tone.

Standing at the dark heart of the 20th Century is the character of Kurtz
 expertly begot by Conrad in his classic colonial era novella and given
much weight (in both style and substance) by Marlon Brandos iconic performance.
Among the 49 minutes of never-before-viewed footage is a scene where Kurtz,
surrounded by Vietcong children, mulls over the futility of a combat praised
only by Pentagon press releases printed as journalism in old copies of Time
magazine.

Earlier,
and even closer to screenwriter John Milius source material, is the
much discussed riverside encounter at the French plantation, which includes
the seduction of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) by a young French widow (Aurore
Clement).

As sensual as the misty mosquito net through which we glimpse the undressing
Roxanne, this sequence also proves to be the necessary calm before the storm.
The overwrought family dinner that precedes the sequence, meanwhile, adds
much to the theme of long-evaporated ideals such as those of the American
in Vietnam.

Earlier still, where one witnesses the long-evaporated mental stability of
Lt Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall as the screen giant meant for the giant
screen) is added footage of the navy patrol boat and crew at the beginning
of their journey up river. The camaraderie evoked in the stealing of Kilgores
surfboard allows a peep at our central characters humanity (seen again
during another new sequence of horseplay with Playboy playmates, desperate
and stranded at a remote Medevac base along the river after their helicopter
ran out of fuel) that can only accentuate the tragedy that is to befall them
in later reels.

This, evidently, is a world the crew have difficulty trying to comprehend:
a world where boys are taught to drop fire on people, but are not allowed
to write fuck on their helmets.

Of course, one can only truly appreciate this fresh cinematic magnificence,
including flaming bridges, awe-inspiring pyrotechnics and Wagnerian air strikes
all cultivated before the days of CG effects and other digital trickery, in
the movie theatre.

Frequently in peoples Top 5 and often revered as one of the most important
and memorable films to be made since Hollywoods Golden Years, this spectacular
war opera is now also a little more inquiring philosophically and is richer
in theme.

Coppola, together with sound designer Walter Murch, depicted an experience
of battle most of us will never directly confront: the insanity, the surreality,
the invigoration, the nightmare and, of course, the horror. In the current
climate it seems all the more resonant.

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